Our Criminal Defence team have a vast experience of all road traffic advocacy and are happy to advise on any offences you have been alleged to have committed. We cannot guarantee a successful outcome but we can advise on the prospects of avoiding disqualification and present your case expertly for you. The costs involved with this are especially worth it if you risk losing your licence and therefore your job as a result of a conviction and disqualification.

Criminal Department

Anthony Weston

Anthony Jones

Disqualification from driving

There are some offences which require the Court to automatically to disqualify you from driving if you plead guilty or are found guilty. These include :

  • Causing death by dangerous driving
  • Causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs
  • Driving or attempting to drive whilst under the influence of drink or drugs
  • Driving or attempting to drive with excess alcohol in breath, blood or urine
  • Failing to provide a specimen for analysis

Excess Alcohol

If you plead guilty or are found guilty of driving with excess alcohol the Court must disqualify you from driving for at least 12 months. If the current offence is your second conviction for the same offence (e.g. driving with excess alcohol) within 10 years you must be disqualified for at least 3 years. The only way such disqualifications can be avoided for these offences is if the Court finds that there are "Special Reasons" for not disqualifying, or imposing a shorter disqualification period.

"Special Reasons"

A special reason must be one connected with the offence not the person committing the offence. A Special Reason must satisfy the following criteria:

  • It must be a mitigating or extenuating circumstance
  • It must not amount to a defence in law to the charge
  • It must be directly connected to the commission of the offence
  • It must be something which the Court ought rightly to take into account when imposing sentence

Rehabilitation

If someone pleads guilty to or is found guilty of:

  • Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs
  • Driving or being in charge of a vehicle whilst under the influence of drink or drugs
  • Driving or being in charge of a vehicle with excess alcohol
  • Failing to provide a specimen of breath

and the Court disqualifies from driving for more than 12 months the Court can, if it sees fit and can be persuaded, make an order that the disqualification be reduced if the person being sentenced attends an approved rehabilitation course. The reduction in disqualification cannot be less than 3 months nor more than a quarter of the disqualification. So, if the Court determines it appropriate, and the course is attended, a 12 month disqualification would be reduced to 9 months.

The points system ("totting up")

Some of the less serious offences carry with them sentences involving the endorsement of points on your driving licence.

If a person repeatedly commits these types of offences the points on their licence can soon add up. If a person pleads guilty to or is found guilty of an offence carrying a penalty of endorsement of points on their licence the Court will look at how many points there are on the licence. If during the preceding three years and if there are (or will be after the points for the current offence are added) 12 or more points the Court must order that the person be disqualified from driving for a minimum period. That minimum period is 6 months if the person has no previous "relevant disqualification". A "relevant disqualification" is one of more than 56 days in length during the 3 years preceding the date of the present offence. If there is such a "relevant disqualification" the minimum period for the disqualification for the current offence would be 12 months. If there are 2 relevant disqualifications the minimum period is 2 year.

Avoiding Disqualification under "totting up"

If the Court finds that there are mitigating circumstances they may order a shorter period of disqualification or not disqualify at all. In finding mitigating circumstances to reduce or not disqualify they may not take into account:

  • Any circumstances which are alleged to make the offence(s) not a serious one
  • Hardship other than exceptional hardship
  • Any circumstances which, within the 3 years immediately before conviction, have previously been taking into account in ordering a shorter disqualification or no disqualification.

The most common reason for reducing or ordering no disqualification is that to disqualify would cause exceptional hardship. Exceptional hardship is difficult to prove and before the Court exercises its discretion it must usually hear evidence. It is therefore important if such an application is to stand any chance of success it is put forward convincingly.